Blu
Blu (full name Tyler Blu Gunderson) is the main protagonist of the Rio franchise. Blu is the last male of his kind/species, shy, and socially awkward. He's definitely the opposite of Jewel. While he can log into a computer, open bird cages and shred on a skateboard, there's one minor set-back: he can't fly nor make friends in Minnesota easily. In Rio de Janeiro he finds it a lot easier with birds like himself. When he finds the girl of his dreams, he's forced to ignore his fears aside and find out if he really has what it takes to soar. Blu is voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, in both Rio and its sequel. He is Jewel's husband, the father of Tiago, Bia and Carla, Eduardo's son in law, Mimi's nephew in law and Roberto's former rival. Rio Blu was first seen as a chick, in an empty nest inside a tree. Awakened by the singing of his fellow birds, Blu, among others, is dancing with them until smugglers capture them and sold to an exotic bird store (at one point, while some of the birds attempt to fly away, he falls out of his tree). On the way, the door of truck carrying him is forced open due to not paying attention to the traffic light, and the crate containing Blu falls onto the streets of Minnesota. A young girl finds the crate, named Linda, who promises to take care of the chick, naming him "Blu". Over the next fifteen years, Blu and Linda become the best of friends, with Linda throwing him birthday parties, taking him to spelling bees (and she wins one at the age of fourteen), and even to her high school prom. One day, an ornithologist named Tulio comes to the book store where Blu and Linda live, informing them that Blu is the last male of his species, and that he must mate with the only female for his species to live. Blu and Linda are reluctant at first, but agree to do it. When they arrive in Rio, Blu meets Pedro and Nico, who give him some tips on how to attract a female. Once at Tulio's aviary, Blu is put off by the fact that his intended mate, Jewel, had badly scratched one of Tulio's assistants. When he sees her, however, he instantly becomes attracted to her. He tries to follow Pedro and Nico's advice, but Jewel, only interested in escaping, angrily rebuffs and attacks him because they "just met". Blu sings a line from Lionel Ritchie’s Academy-Award-winning song "Say You, Say Me", when it is turned on. Jewel only pounces on him and attacks him, causing the two to struggle, with the two humans assuming that they are mating. Later, the two are captured by a boy named Fernando, who brings them to a band of poachers, assisted by the smuggler Marcel and his pet cockatoo, Nigel. Blu and Jewel are chained together and caged, but Jewel makes an escape (assisted by Blu, who unlocks the cage's latch). When Jewel attempts to fly, Blu is forced to admit that he can't fly, much to Jewel's dismay, and they are forced to escape Nigel and the smugglers on foot, making their way into the jungle, to Blu's displeasure. He does, however, get to sleep on a beam of a hut, as he reveals his tricks on how to get up there without flying. On the other hand, Jewel tells him that birds need flying (when he asks who needs it), and that it is freedom and not having to depend on anyone. In the morning, Blu attempts to compromise a way to break the chain, but fails. They are then set upon by a flock of baby toucans, whose father, Rafael, offers to take them to Luiz to get the chain off. Rafael also tries to get Blu to fly, telling him that he just needs to, "feel the rhythm" of his heart, but Blu, still scared, falls short at the last moment, causing himself and Jewel to land on a hang glider. Blu, enjoying the feeling of being in the air, opens his wings, causing himself and Jewel to be blown off the hang glider and onto the beach below. Rafael then leads them to a fruit truck, which takes them into the city. There, Blu once again meets Pedro and Nico, who inform the group that they had just missed the tram that would take them to Luiz. While they wait, Pedro and Nico take the group to a bird's samba club. Once there, Blu, whose childhood memories stirred by the music, starts to dance. With a little nudge from Rafael, Blu dances with Jewel, culminating in her singing beautifully, captivates him. Just as it seems like the two will kiss, the club is raided by a group of Marmosets, hired by Nigel to find them. A brief battle ensues, during which the tram arrives, and Blu and Jewel are given a lift there by Kipo the Roseate Spoonbill. While on their way to Luiz's, Blu, with help from the others, tries to tell Jewel how he feels about her, but is prevented by a stray flower petal getting stuck in his throat. When they finally arrive, they are surprised to learn that Luiz is a bulldog, and even more surprised that he intends to use a buzz saw in an attempt to cut the chain. In the ensuing chaos, Luiz catches the chain in his mouth, causing his drool to seep onto Blu and Jewel's legs, causing them to slip through the shackles. Blu, knowing he and Jewel will have to part ways, sarcastically tries to brush her off. Jewel retaliates by chiding him for not being able to fly. Blu responds by admitting to hate samba, shocking his friends and walking away angrily. However, he is soon informed by Pedro and Nico that Nigel has captured Jewel, and decides to mount a rescue, using Luiz as a steed. Blu and company follows Nigel to Carnival. Spotting Linda, Blu is briefly torn, but decides to focus on saving Jewel. Once he finds her, he tries to set her free, but is caged himself by Nigel, along with Rafael, Pedro and Nico. They are placed in the poachers' plane, along with all the other captured birds. During the flight, Blu rigs a fire extinguisher to bust open his cage, allowing the escape of the others. The plane's door is opened and the birds escape, except for Blu, who is still scared of flying. As Jewel tries to comfort him, Nigel attacks Blu. Jewel tries to help Blu, but knocked into the plane's side, causing a cage to fall on her wing, injuring it. As Nigel mocks them, an angered Blu attaches the fire extinguisher to the cockatoo's foot, setting it off. Nigel is blasted out of the plane and into one of its propellers, causing it to fall. Jewel falls out of the plane, and Blu, putting his fears aside, jumps after her. After telling her that he won't let her go, Blu is kissed by Jewel. Blu is then overcome by the beating of his heart, opens his wings, and flies, saving himself and Jewel. Flying down to Linda, Tulio and Fernando, Blu convinces Jewel to let Tulio tend to her wing. After Jewel's wing is healed, Blu joins her in the wild, sharing one last goodbye with Linda. In the final scene, Blu, Jewel and their three chicks Tiago, Bia, and Carla fly and then sing in their new home. Appearance He has blue feathers and brown eyes. He has white facial markings around his eyes. He has fluffy feathers on his sides and back of neck. Like Jewel, he sports a feather ruffle which lays on back of his neck, several feathers flow. Personality and Traits Shy, socially awkward, and smart, he says things that are the last thing on your mind and even make you laugh. He can't even express himself and his feelings to the girl of his dreams, he tried so many times but still, he blew it all. While he can use a fire extinguisher to get out of his cage and open a plane's cargo door, he can't fly. He often pertains himself to "one of the types of birds that can't fly". But if the girl of his dreams is in trouble, he will risk it all to save her, even if it costs his life (He jumps out of the cargo plane trying to save Jewel even though he doesn't know how to fly). He's one-of-a-kind. And he's proud of it. Despite being awkward, unable to express himself and even a bit clumsy with words, he is very softhearted, sweet, handsomely cute, super smart, and because of his colorful courage and bravery, Blu will never give up on anything. Even when Nigel digs his talons deep in Blu's throat he puts away his own pain to focus on Jewel's broken wing. Primary Relationships Blu and Jewel Blu has lived in Minnesota for 15 years under the care of Linda. After Tulio, an ornithologist tells that Blu is the last male of his kind, he travels to Rio and looks for the girl of his dreams. Shy, and socially awkward, his impression and approach to Jewel was misunderstood. He completely blew it. But later on, he wins her heart during their adventure together. The two eventually had children of their own at the end of the movie. Additional Info Blu initially has a very rocky relationship with Jewel. Although he tries to act friendly towards her, her hostility towards him due to being a pet and being unable to fly causes him to be hostile towards her back. Over the course of their journey however, he begins to grow more comfortable around her, eventually developing feelings for her at their dance at the samba club. After their dance duet, Blu nervously tried to admit his feelings toward her. After the chain was removed, he was unhappy at the fact they would have to part, spilling out into an argument. After which he angrily walks. After hearing she has been captured, however, he goes to rescue her, even passing up the chance to be reunited with Linda to do so. When an injured Jewel falls out of the Smuggler's plane, Blu puts his fears aside and jumps after her, not wanting to lose her. Jewel realized that he did this because he loved her. Blu and Linda Linda is Blu's best friend. Back in Minnesota, they would do everything together, hardly ever parting. When Blu joins Jewel to the jungle, he and Linda share one of their special "fist bumps" as a farewell to each other. Secondary Relationships Rafael Blu often takes Rafael's advice, Respecting his wisdom and intelligence. Nico and Pedro Nico and Pedro are the First Friends Blu makes in Rio, and he treats them as such, even though their advice on courting Jewel failed miserably. Tulio When they first met, Blu is disturbed by Tulio's attempts to "Communicate" with him, and doesn't take kindly to the good doctor throwing him across the room in an attempt to make him fly. Blu also doesn't care for Tulio's attempts to make him look "irresistible", quickly smoothing out his fluffed-up feathers Nigel When they first meet, Nigel is posing as a sick bird, and responds to Blu's "Get well soon" with an evil glare. Blu later classifies Nigel's Pretty Bird song as "Scary, but not cool." When Nigel injures Jewel, Blu once again denounces him as "Not cool", before blasting him out of the plane. Luiz Blu is initially terrified of Luiz, Thinking he is a rabid dog. Once this is revealed to be a joke, Blu generally treats him with friendliness, though he is repulsed by the bulldog's drool. Gallery Trivia *Blu is voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, a male actor of many films such as, Zombieland, 30 minutes or Less and The Social Network. *He was originally supposed to be voiced by Neil Patrick Harris, who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. *When he said that once in a while he pees in the bird bath, birds can't technically urinate. *Tyler Blu Gunderson is a real name from a person from Australia. *In the second scene of the movie Blu jumps on the keyboard of Linda's computer, the password is known to be (387lynda). *He drinks a cup of water to wash down the toothpaste, but instead of spitting it out he swallows it. *He was seen drinking a cup of hot chocolate and eating chocolate chip cookies off a plate (even dunking one in his chocolate). *Even though Blu was born in Rio he didn't want to come maybe because he liked it in Moose Lake, forgot he lived here, or had no memory of being born in Rio. It is unknown which is which. *His name refers to the blue feathers, though in his name, the letter "E" is dropped. *He and Linda lived together for 15 years. *Blu has an image of his face on a Sanctuary named after him. *This is Jesse's first voice over role *Blu is the third Blue Sky Studios animal character to be a protagonist, after Manny from Ice Age and Horton the Elephant from Horton Hears a Who!. Category:Characters Category:Rio characters Category:Protagonists Category:Birds Category:Heroes Category:Parrots Category:Pets Category:Rio Category:Teenagers Category:Animals Category:Spix Macaws Category:Lovers Category:Love Interests Category:Wild Animals Category:Parents Category:GoAnimate characters